Why is carrying a dead body so hard?

Nia was struggling to carry the corpse of the recently deceased adventurer to a quieter place. The crowd outside was a bit more than she could handle. At first, she was unsure how to approach them but it didn’t seem she needed to, they were removing the pile of bricks sitting on top of the body all on their own. She was actually a bit moved by the gesture, a simple reminder that people respected the dead. Maybe she wouldn’t have to speak with any of them at all. That is, until one of them screamed.

“I WANT HIS SHOES!”

“GIMME THAT SHIRT!!!”

The crowd erupted into chaos as they tried to take everything they could from the dead boy. Nia was already unsure of herself before they started screaming. Now she was terrified. She watched closely as the group quickly went from trying to take as many things as they could to fighting each other for those things. The least she could do was grab the body while it was still intact, as intact as a body could be after being crushed by bricks. Then at least she wouldn’t have to speak to anyone, just make her way through the crowd and back.

She was already used to the crowds of the city. Even so moving through a group of people tearing at each other was no easy task, but she did it all without a scratch. Sometimes she surprised even herself. Now came the hard part, carrying the body to a safer location. The only places she could think to store a dead body until Aurus returned was either the inn, which wouldn’t please most guests, or the upstairs of the guild. She decided on the upstairs of the guild, but before going, she decided to cover Owwen’s head with a bag. She didn’t want to look at his face, partially out of respect, and partially because it did not look good after getting crushed by a pile of bricks. Though it did make her look like a kidnapper, dragging a half-naked body, with a bag on it’s head.

Despite receiving several stares from adventurers in the tavern, and even Karla who looked up from her magazine, no one really questioned her. She questioned whether they did this because they trusted she knew what she was doing, or they just didn’t want to get involved and have to work on anything extra. It was probably the latter. Dragging the body by its feet, she managed to make it halfway up the stairs before stopping to breathe.

This shouldn’t be that hard. He’s only 16. Why is he so heavy? She sighed before resuming the climb.

The upstairs office above the tavern was quite large. Very few people managed to see it since it was employee’s only. Several desks were lined up, all of them with documents and other important files piled up. Behind the desks there were chairs for the working staff and behind those several different filing cabinets, filled with even more paperwork. If someone who had never seen the office before walked in it would seem like a lot of work was being done, but this was one of the few days where things were quiet. At the end of the office was a window facing the street, where the commotion was still taking place, it was also where Nia’s desk was. Next to her desk on the right side of the room there was a door leading to the Guild Master’s office.

Office workers were either upstairs dealing with quest related issues and other paperwork or downstairs staffing the Information Desk. There were two people working there that day beyond herself and her boss. However, it was menial work, just putting away and organizing files that had already been signed or looked at. Neither of them questioned Nia when she walked in with the corpse, but they did seem to speed up their work and leave as fast as possible. Nia had never seen them work so fast, in fact most people in the office slacked off whenever possible, something she was not keen on doing. She reached her desk but quickly realized that moving anything would ruin the organized mess she had made for herself. She looked towards her boss’ door.

I’m sure he won’t mind. His room is the safest place to keep things.

She hesitated at first but opened the door to his office and looked in to see if there was any space available for a corpse. The office was large. On the left there was a window looking towards the outside and on the right a huge bookshelf, filled with all different kinds of books and tomes. In the middle of the office there was a large coffee table with two chairs, both facing the window. Near the end of the office was Aurus’ desk, facing the entrance, still piled up with papers and behind that another bookshelf with a few items on it in addition to more books.

Thankfully the coffee table was empty, a perfect spot to put a body. She dragged it in and placed it on the table, thinking about how to explain it best to her boss why there was a half-naked body in his office.

At least they didn’t steal his underwear.

Nia was thankful the crowd outside had some sense of decency when stealing things from the dead. She wandered around the office while thinking, something she did often when deep in thought.

What do I tell him? What do I…

She sat down on her boss’ chair, hoping it would improve her thinking skills. Nothing like that happened, but the chair was really comfortable. She could still hear the people fighting outside.

Maybe keeping it on the table isn’t the most sanitary thing… But where else would I keep it?

She spun around eyes wandering towards the bookshelf behind the desk. It had a few items on display, nothing too interesting until her eyes closed in on a glove on one of the higher shelves. It was more of a gauntlet than a glove if she was being honest with herself. It was beige colored and had a few patterns engraved on it, some thick lines running through its length. She knew it was a powerful air magic item, but since so few people knew how to activate air magic it was left exposed on his shelf. A plan started forming in her head.

Hmmm… What if I used the glove to make the body float? Her eyes brightened at the prospect of being able to solve something with magic, but she hesitated. I’ve seen Aurus use it like that before. I think…

She carefully picked up the glove and put it on her left hand. It was a bit loose and her fingers did not reach the end of it, but it was still enough to keep it secured on her upper arm. She walked up towards the coffee table, deciding to place herself with the large bookshelf behind her and the two chairs on her sides. She had a nagging feeling on the back of her head, telling her this was a bad idea, she usually listened to this feeling but this was one of the few times she would be useful using magic. Pointing the glove towards the body, she froze.

“What was the spell again?” She thought out loud. “I know it’s a word, most air magic is activated using spoken words.”

Unlike other kinds of magic that required certain materials or specific motions to be activated, air magic items relied mostly on spoken words. This should have be great for Nia since that meant she didn’t have to go looking for anything specific to use it. All she had to do was remember the right phrase, which she didn’t. So she stood there, her open palm facing the dead boy, thinking as hard as she could about the word she needed to say.

“What was it!” She cried in frustration. “It always ends with ‘en’ I remember that, but what is the rest. It’s not ‘Fa’, or ‘No’, wait maybe it was ‘Fa’… Urghhhhh!”

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all…

A thought popped in her head like a balloon. “’Sho’! It was Sho’en!”

She barely had any time to react before her back slammed into the bookshelf as a deafening air blast erupted from the glove. The sound was incredibly loud, had it been louder her ears would have been ringing. She almost fell to the ground as the air was knocked out of her by the kickback. She looked up trying to catch her breath. Her eyes widened in shock. The whole office was a mess. Papers were flying everywhere, the coffee table had slammed against the opposite wall, and the windows were broken. Nia did not notice any of this. In fact, she was staring at the outside, her mouth half open as her mind tried to understand what was happening.

Her eyes were fixed on Owwen’s body, flying across the street. The world went silent as it did. Nia had no idea a corpse could fly so well, if she wasn’t completely mortified by the scene she would’ve been impressed, both at the aerodynamics of a flying body and the force of the air blast. The spell was strong enough to send the deceased kid out the window and across most of the street before crashing down. The silence persisted for a good second before she heard screaming from down below.

“HE’S STILL ALIVE! RUN!!!”

The chaos got even worse as people started to flee in different directions, trying to avoid the wrath of the flying boy. Nia had made her way to the window just in time to see the last few people run away from the scene. Silence settled again. She could see that the people in their panic had left everything they had taken from the kid, in a way she kept them from stealing everything. The body also looked a bit more broken than before. She was pretty sure legs were not meant to bend that way, or arms for that matter.

She removed the glove, paying careful attention not to say another word, and placed it back where it was on the shelf. Certain that no one would try to steal anything else after that, she decided to clean the mess she made as best as she could. The office was mostly intact. The only things that moved around were the papers, the table, and the chairs, which were knocked back a bit. She finished organizing everything quickly. The only thing that she couldn’t fix was the broken window, she would have to find a good explanation for that.

She made her way downstairs and was not surprised to see most people in the tavern staring at the body across the street. Karla’s eyes were wide as she turned to look at Nia.

“I know I didn’t like the kid but don’t you think you…”

“You are not going to say a thing. Understood?” Nia replied, doing her best to keep the embarrassment out of her face.

She finally managed to confront someone on her own. She just had to desecrate someone’s corpse and cause a crowd of people to run away screaming. She walked outside and gathered the pieces of clothing the people had left behind in their panic before going to the fallen body to figure out what to do.

I don’t think I’ll be able to put his clothes back the way it was before. He’s too… mangled. She really wished there was another word to describe what he looked like.

She fidgeted around, trying to find the best way to pick him up. She was just about ready to do it when she spotted the last person she expected to see walking towards her, the mayor.

Mayor Rickett was a strange man, and by strange she meant one-step away from being completely insane. He looked and acted normal enough, but after some interacting with the slightly chubby man, she realized why Aurus disliked dealing with him. Not only was he one of the few people who outranked her boss, he was also one of the biggest donors of the guild. The missions he requested of the guild, which would become usually high priority quests, paid extremely well, and gave a large amount of fame to the adventurers who completed them.

“Hello Nia! How are you this fine evening?” He excitedly asked the assistant. His voice was articulate and his mannerisms calm, something that gave a very good first impression, but not to those who already knew him, like Nia.

“I’m alright, considering the circumstances.” She glanced at the dead body, still trying to think of an excuse for her boss.

“That is great! And who is this young man?” He looked at Owwen’s corpse.

“That’s our newest adventurer. He had a bit of an accident.” She tried playing off the severity of the situation.

“That is unfortunate. I hope he gets better soon. Is Aurus here by any chance?” He asked.

“He went over to the Builder’s Guild. He should be coming back sometime soon.”

“Understandable. I’ll just wait for him in his office.” He glanced up at the office window. “I see he finally got rid of the windows. I’m glad, they’ve always annoyed me.”

“Ummm… Yeah… Well, we’re getting new windows very soon.” Nia made a mental note to replace the broken windows.

“Oh that’s sad. I really hoped he would keep the windowless look. I quite enjoy not having windows. And curtains as well, don’t get me started on those damned curtains.” His serene expression turned into a scowl as he looked up at the broken windows.

“I am aware of that sir.” Nia remembered the time Rickett broke every window of the Town Hall. It took the builders weeks to replace them all, mostly because he kept trying to break them again.

“I’ll be going upstairs now.” His expression was calm again. “Have a great evening Nia. Also a great evening to you young adventurer.” He spoke to Owwen’s body. Not noticing at all how dead he was.

The mayor made his way inside the tavern while Nia stayed outside doing her best to dress him in his clothes again. The oddly shaped limbs did not make things easy, but after some effort, she finally managed to dress the corpse decently again. Wiping a drop of sweat off her forehead, she saw Aurus walking towards her. She tried smiling but the thoughts of what had transpired left her more embarrassed than glad.

“I see you managed to take care of the crowd.”

“Ah well. I was easier than I imagined.” She tried avoiding his gaze, knowing he would be able to tell something was off.

“Hmmm, so it was easy. Mind explaining why he has a bag on his head?”

“Oh that’s…” I forgot about the bag!!!!! “I thought I’d cover his face out of respect.” Saved it!

“Ok. Then explain why his limbs are all folded the wrong way, and also why my windows are broken.” His expression remained the same and his eyes never broke contact with Nia as he pointed up towards his office.

“Well…. That was… Uhhh…. An accident. It was all an accident.” Nia became more and more red with every word she stumbled.

“Then I assume these traces of wind magic were also accidental.”

“Yeah… Well no…. Look its……”

They stood there for a minute. Nia, looking like a tomato, staring at the floor, and Aurus, looking at her trying to get some information of what had happened. Until a voice from above broke the stalemate.

“Aurus!” He looked up to his office window. “I really like what you’ve done with the windows!” He did a small wave in acknowledgement of the man inside his office.

“When did he arrive here?” He asked Nia.

“Not too long ago…” Nia was still red, but managed to spit out the most basic information she remembered.

“Aw crap.” Aurus whispered under his breath. “I’ll see what Rickett wants. When you calm down enough you can tell me everything that happened. I called the undertaker on the way here so you shouldn’t have to guard this body for long.”

“Ok…”

He went into the tavern leaving Nia alone outside. She knew he would figure things out quickly, but not that quickly.

How did he even know about the wind magic?

It didn’t matter. She would have to tell him the truth, even if her head exploded from all the blood rushing to her cheeks. She sighed, trying to calm down after being interrogated. At least she wouldn’t have to talk to the Mayor.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

They sat on the chairs near the coffee table, a spot Aurus only sat in when he had guests. He had handed him a cup of tea and was serving one for himself before he sat down. The room was actually well organized, except for the missing windows, and the shuffled papers on his desk. The papers themselves were not a complete mess, but he could see that they were not the way he left them. He would have to ask what happened to Nia as soon as he was done with Rickett.

“I want tea.” The mayor chided.

Aurus glanced at the cup of tea he had just handed him. He really wanted to snap back at him, but the mayor was the highest-ranking government official in Anderess. Not only did he outrank Aurus, his various contributions kept the guild running in desperate times, something that the guild master was not keen on forgetting. So he resisted the urge to say anything that might be taken as an insult.

“I just gave you tea.”

“I want better tea.” He looked at the contents of his cup. “No insult to your tea of course, but I have been craving some high quality tea as of late.”

“Well, I’m sure I can find some better tea next time you come over.”

“Good!” He drank some of it before continuing. “I have just the place where you can find it, that is why I’m here actually.”

“You’re here to get better tea?”

“Exactly. I want you to make a quest for it as soon as possible.”

Quests in general were either given out by the guild themselves based on gathered information, or petitioned by people. The guild made little distinction between the importance of a quest given by a farmer who needed help with crops, or by the town guard who wanted temporary reinforcements. However, quests given by the mayor held a high priority spot on the Info Board, mainly because he always paid very well, both the guild and the adventurers who completed them. Rickett also oversaw important documents that needed to go to the kingdom capital. He barely understood any of them but being in his good side usually helped speed up the process. Aurus was used to receiving weird quests form the mayor, so a quest to gather tea leaves seemed a bit too normal.

“Sounds… ok. Shouldn’t be hard to place a high priority quest for tea leaves. Are you looking for any specific kind of tea?”

“Yes I am.” He nodded approvingly. “You’re as sharp as ever Aurus. The leaves I’m looking for are form this one particular plant that grows in Grove Valley. It’s leaves are a pale yellow with a shade of green on the sides.”

“Grove Valley?” Aurus did a double take just as he was about to drink.

“Yes, I heard the plant only grows this time of the year there so put a time limit on the quest if you can.”

“A time limit… on a quest to Grove Valley?” He questioned.

“Yes. A time limit on a quest to Grove Valley.” Rickett repeated for emphasis.

Aurus paused to think a bit. “Rickett, no disrespect, but Grove Valley is currently inhabited by goblins. I don’t think a quest there is a good idea.”

“Nonsense!” He laughed a bit as he said it. “I’ll just increase the reward and everyone will be happy.”

It was true that adventurers would take the most ridiculous quests if it paid enough, but goblin camps normally had 1000 to 2000 goblins at a time. Even an experienced adventurer group would have a hard time getting into the valley and getting out without being seen. Goblins were notorious for being aggressive and territorial. Just being close to a place where they had set up camp was enough to rile them up. Aurus did not like the sound of this at all.

They sipped on their tea silently. In this short time, Aurus had already thought of a few ways this quest might work, but they were all extremely risky, and he did not like taking unnecessary risks. While Rickett just sat back and enjoyed the opened up office.

“I really like the no windows look. It gives this place nice breeze.”

“We’re getting new ones soon so it’s not going to last.”

“That is a pity. I quite like to enjoy the breeze of a windowless room, especially without any clothes. It is also the reason I hate curtains. They keep the air from coming in.”

“I sorry I don’t share the same love of breezes like you do.” Aurus said sarcastically.

“You should! Oh how the flowing air sweetly caresses every inch of skin. How it freshens the softest private…”

“Stop! I don’t need to hear your speech on breezes again. I understood why you love them the first time.” Aurus had tried to suppress the memory of that speech, but it always came back.

“I’m glad you did then, I don’t like to repeat myself.” Aurus knew this was a lie. “If you’ll excuse me I have to get going now. I expect the quest to be done in no less than two weeks. Have a good day Aurus.” Rickett finished his tea and threw the cup out of the window before heading out.

“Have a good day Mayor.” Aurus said as the mayor left the office.

He kept sitting there; half expecting to hear the cup hit someone’s head. With the luck he was having today, it would not be too much of a stretch. Thankfully, all he heard was the cup shattering on the floor down below, he would have to ask someone to clean it. He finished his tea, and sat on his desk.

A quest for tea leaves in Grove Valley… This is not gonna end well.

He was about to start doing paperwork again when Nia walked in. Her head hung low, but her face was not as red as it once was. She made her way to his desk. They stayed in silence for a few moments before Aurus broke it with a single word.

“Explain.” His voice was direct, but not angry.

All he really wanted at this point was an explanation. Nia breathed in and began explaining to him the collection of events that led to the mangled body outside, and to his broken windows. When she mentioned using the magic item, he interrupted her.

“You used the Gale Glove?” He pointed to the glove sitting on his shelf behind him.

“Yes.”

He got up and grabbed the glove, placing it on the desk between them.

“You used this. To try and carry a dead body?” He pointed to the glove again.

Her face reddened a bit. “Yes…” She responded meekly.

He sat there for a minute, his expression unchanging. Nia tried to see whether he was angry, surprised, shocked, or all three, but his face told her nothing as he placed his hand on his chin and looked at his desk. This silence was even worse than the one before it. Nia was tempted to break it by filling the air with excuses, but before she was able, Aurus asked her the last question she expected him to ask.

“What spell did you use?” He looked up at her.

“Huh!?”

Nia was surprised. With a single question the air of tension in the room dissipated. She was confused by the curiosity of her boss. She was sure that he would have been angry at her for using one of his magical items without permission, but here he was asking her what spell she had used. Maybe he was using that question to hide his anger. Aurus raised his eyebrows a bit and tilted his head forward; indicating to Nia that she still hadn’t answered his question.

“Ummm… The spell I used… Oh! It was Sho…” She clasped her hands in front of her mouth. She would not make the same mistake again.

“Hmmmpff” Aurus replied, with a relaxed expression. “At least you learned something about magic today. Either way, it could’ve been a lot worse.”

“Wait” She blinked a few times. “You’re not mad?”

“No. Not anymore. Maybe when I first saw my windows broken, but I understand that you were trying to help. Besides, it was my fault for leaving such a powerful item exposed in my office, especially one that can be activated with words.” He picked up the glove and placed it in a drawer on his desk. “Consider this a learning experience about the dangers of magic, and how risky it is to use it without fully understanding it.”

“Then…” She stammered a bit, recovering from the tension that had plagued her. “I’m not going to be punished?”

“I don’t see a reason to punish you. No one got hurt, and you’re already going to have extra work hiring someone to replace my windows. If you want, think of that as your punishment.” He started going through the paperwork on his desk, getting back into the working rhythm.

“Thank you sir!” She bowed.

“Mmmhmm.” He replied. “Now back to work. We have a new high priority quest from the mayor; this one has a time limit.”

“How long do we have to finish it?” Nia stood up also getting back into a working attitude.

“Two weeks.”

“Two weeks? That’s not a lot of time.”

“Which is why we need to get this quest filed and out there as soon as possible, especially considering what the adventurers are going to have to do.”

“Alright. What are the details?”

“Acquire high quality tea leaves.”

“Tea leaves? That doesn’t sound too hard.” She interjected.

“From Grove Valley.”

“Oh.” Nia’s eyes widened.

“Yeah.” Aurus tapped the desk slightly. “This is going to be a high priority, high risk mission. No silver adventurers or less. We don’t want them killing themselves for the reward.”

“Understood.” Nia was still trying to process the information. “I’ll write this down as soon as possible and send it over to the quest desk. What do the leaves look like specifically?”

“Yellow, with a shade of green at the sides.”

“Ok. That is a rare color combination.” Nia considered what the leaf of this plant would look like. “I’ll get right on it.”

“Good. Now come on. We have a lot of work to do.”

“Okay!” She was about to leave when she remembered. “Boss. How did you know about the wind magic when you were still outside?”

Aurus looked at her and answered plainly. “Every magic leaves some sort of sign. See enough of them and you’ll start noticing them better.”

“Oh, thank you!” She turned and left his office.

Nia smiled as she made her way out of his office and back to her desk. The paperwork stacked there rivaled the one on her boss’ desk. Her smile faltered a bit as she remembered all the other tasks she had yet to do. Looking outside she could see that it was barely past noon. It felt to her that it should’ve been a lot more late than it was considering all that had happened. Some days were tougher than others that was for sure. She sat down on her desk getting ready to write down the details of the mayor’s mission when she heard a crash come from downstairs. Some days were A LOT tougher than others.